Lotus tree
The lotus tree (Greek: λωτός, lōtós) is a plant that occurs in two stories from Greek mythology:
- In Homer's Odyssey, the lotus (tree) bore a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness and was the only food of an island people called the Lotophagi or Lotus-eaters. When they ate of the lotus tree they would forget their friends and homes and would lose their desire to return to their native land in favor of living in idleness.[1]
- In Ovid's Metamorphoses,[2] the nymph Lotis was the beautiful daughter of Neptune, the god of water and the sea. In order to flee the attention of the violent deity Priapus, she invoked the assistance of the gods, who answered her prayers by turning her into a lotus tree.[3]
Botanical candidates for the lotus (tree) include the date-plum (Diospyros lotus), which is a sub-evergreen tree native to Africa that grows to about 25 feet and has uninteresting yellowish green flowers.[4] Other Lotus plants are discussed in the Lotus-eaters article.
The lotus tree is also mentioned in the Book of Job 40:21-22, verses which refer to a large hippopotamus-like creature referred to as "behemoth". The passage states: "He lies under the lotus trees, In a covert of reeds and marsh. The lotus trees cover him with their shade; The willows by the brook surround him." (NAB)
See also
References
- ^ Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, page 526, by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
- ^ Flora's dictionary By Elizabeth Washington Wirt
- ^ Plant lore, legends and lyrics By Richard Folkard
- ^ The rural cyclopedia: or a general dictionary of agriculture, and ..., Volume 2 By John Marius Wilson